Previews

Project Treasure Island Z

If you like to sail the sea, pillage candy and solve puzzles then you are a pirate.

Spiffy:

Tons of variety in interactive puzzles; most Wii-mote utilization ever; ultra-cute character design.

Iffy:

Lack of instruction could get frustrating; darling anime style may not work for hardcore action gamers.

At yesterday's Capcom Gamer's Day, we got a chance to see what looks like one of the most innovative Wii-mote-oriented titles yet. Project Treaure Island Z focuses on using the Wii-mote in new and interesting ways as you attempt to become the best pirate in the universe by solving puzzles and looting treasure. The idea is that you'll engage in analogous activities like turning cranks or keys with the Wii-mote, but it goes much deeper than that.

Man-Handling

So, imagine a game similar to Wario Ware: Smooth Moves except that part of the puzzle is figuring out what to do with the Wii remote. That's almost an accurate description, except for the fact that these various puzzle-solving activities won't be quite as time-sensitive as those that you'll find in Wario Ware, so we can all breath a collective sigh of relief on that count. You also won't be alone on your quest for pirate greatness, because the character you play (a young boy named Zack) has a nifty little pet named Wiki.

Wiki is supposed to be a monkey, except that he looks a little like a bear with helicopter rotors attached to his back. Go ahead and read that last sentence again and let that sink in, because in typical kooky Capcom fashion, this little dude can actually hover around. But wait, it gets weirder, because Wiki has a unique ability that enables him to transform into a bell that you can ring to turn enemies into usable items. The example we saw featured a centipede creature menacing Zack, only to be rendered into a harmless (but useful) saw with a clang of Wiki in his bell form. Of course, this saw (or Centi-saw as it was called during the demo) became of pivotal importance when we later encountered a tree that could be turned into a handy bridge by cutting it down.

One of the more intriguing features that had us scratching our heads was the fact that part of the puzzle-solving in Project Treasure Island Z is that you have to figure out how to use the Wii-mote to interact with each obstacle. The example shown to us during the trailer depicted a brain teaser that required the turn of a crank with the Wii-mote standing in for the part of the crank handle. Not only did you have to turn the crank handle, but you first had to figure out how to get the crank handle to attach to its corresponding sprocket. When the guy demo-ing the game tried to insert the crank handle into the sprocket by pushing the Wii remote forward, it wouldn't work because the sprockets didn't line up properly, so part of the puzzle was discovering that you had to flip the Wii remote over in order for the sprockets to mesh.

To ease the seemingly inevitable torrents of frustration this could bring, Project Treasure Island Z debuts a new type of hint system, where you can instantly call up hints to cheat your way through. Using hints, however, impacts your rating (delivered at the end of each level) so completists and glory hounds will want to forego these hints at every opportunity in order to achieve the best score. There's no question that you'll have plenty of chances to choose whether or not you need some extra hints, because Project Treasure Island Z will have roughly 20 different levels spanning seven uniquely themed worlds and about 500 interactive items.

Slated for a Fall 2007 release, Project Treasure Island Z should retail for a miniscule $39.99. Sheesh, at that price, we can't wait to use our Wii-mote as a flute, wrench, crank handle, key, club and whatever else Capcom can come up with, all in a zany cartoon fantasy world where piracy is less about killing and pillaging and more about treasure hunting and candy.